I had originally intended to come at you with a recipe for Chocolate Chai Crackle Cookies today, but since I forgot my photos at home, you’ll have to wait til next week for that. It’s worth the wait, though. I swear.

In the interim, I thought I’d share this with you. This is a doozy of a cake…fairly easy to throw together (despite the lengthy ingredient list), and very “fall” tasting. It’d be a great option if you’re responsible for bringing a dessert to a party or potluck, as it travels pretty well and is a nice change from a lot of those sickeningly sweet grocery store desserts that are out there (no hard feelings if you bring those to a party, though. Real talk: we all enjoy a good grocery store cookie/cake/cupcake/brownie from time to time. We don’t always have time to bake. I get you, I promise.) The original recipe calls it a torte, but since this isn’t what I know a torte to be, I’m calling it a cake. So there. Continue reading →

I feel as though I should introduce you to my sous chef. He always wears a tuxedo in the kitchen (although his pants are a little too short), and he really enjoys eating (among other things) canned pumpkin straight out of the can. Sometimes, he tries to trip me while I’m cooking, and other times he tries to start up a chirpy conversation with me. He’s not great about clean up. I think I need to hire a dishwasher.

He has a brother, who you’ll be introduced to later. Now that you’ve met, I can show my true crazy-cat-lady colors on occasion.

This was the first truly chilly weekend we’ve had this year…we’ve FINALLY dipped pretty consistently into the 40’s during the day. As a Californian-turned-Chicagoan, I think I’m one of the few people I know in this city who really and truly loves the cold. Why yes, I would LOVE to see another blizz-aster/snowprah/snowmageddon/snowtorious B.I.G. a-la-February 2011 this year. Especially since we got totally short-changed on cold weather last winter. Continue reading →